Eastern Standard All The Time

Originally I was going to write and post this before DST2007 dropped out of effect for 2015, but I missed the time. Indeed, I am writing this during the "free" hour between 1:59am EDT and 1:00am EST. Since not everyone reads newspapers with their above-the-fold reminder graphics or listen to local radio or TV, I always post a notice on my class webpages which my students are supposed to check every day:


Daylight Saving Time -- note there is no "s" -- is regularly mocked and hated in the United States of the 21st century:


For me, seeing as I am not a farmer, nor do I do many outdoor things in the summer evening (or anytime any more for that matter), the changeovers between DST modes generally results in having to battle the Sun in my eyes during my morning commute twice in the spring and twice in the fall. Alas, my commute starts off heading due east on roads. Fortunately, my current schedule doesn't put me in the same position westbound coming home.

Now there's a possible move to rid Michigan of DST altogether:

MICHIGAN -- As much of the nation prepares to turn the clocks back an hour Sunday, a Michigan legislator wants the state to dump daylight saving time.

The idea of Rep. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township, is not new. Others have tried to get Michigan off the twice-annual time change regimen without success.

In March, Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, sponsored a bill but it gained no traction.

Now, Lucido has sponsored a similar measure.

Introduced Oct. 14, his bill seeks to dump daylight saving time but also bring four Upper Peninsula counties into the Eastern Standard Time zone with the rest of the state. Gogebic, Iron, Dickinson, and Menominee counties now are in the Central time zone.

"There is no rational basis for (daylight saving time) whatsoever," Lucido argues.

He claims it leads to workplace accidents, health and driving risks, sleep disruptions and simple hassles for people that need to manually change clocks twice a year.

Lucido also believes that one intent of the program -- to save energy -- was never a proven outcome.

"It doesn't save anything. It causes problems," he said.

Lucido's bill has been referred to the House Government Operations Committee for a possible hearing.

Interestingly, Michigan has not always adopted Daylight Saving Time:

In 1967 the Michigan Legislature adopted a statute, Act 6 of the Public Acts of 1967, exempting the state from the observance of DST. The exemption statute was suspended on June 14, 1967, however, when the referendum was invoked. From June 14, 1967 until the last Sunday in October, 1967, Michigan observed DST, and did so in 1968 as well. The exemption statute was submitted to the voters at the General Election held in November 1968, and, in a close vote, the exemption statute was sustained. As a result, Michigan did not observe DST in 1969, 1970, 1971, or 1972. In November 1972, an initiative measure, repealing the exemption statute, was approved by the voters. Michigan again observed DST in 1973, and has continued to do so since then.

The vast majority of Michigan is in the Eastern Time Zone. Only the Upper Peninsula counties that border Wisconsin (Gogebic, Iron, Dickinson, and Menominee) are in Central Time.

Of course, the ridiculous DST2007 we currently operate under, was actually proposed by... duh-duh-DUH... a MICHIGAN congressman -- and a Republican at that. Thanks, Fred Upton:

Starting March 11, 2007, DST was extended another four to five weeks, from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. The change was introduced by Representatives Fred Upton (R-MI) and Edward Markey (D-MA) and added to the Energy Policy Act of 2005; the House had originally approved a motion that would have extended DST even farther from the first Sunday in March to the last Sunday in November, but Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Pete Domenici (R-NM) agreed to scale back the proposal in conference committee due to complaints from farmers and the airline industry. Proponents claimed that the extension would save "the equivalent of" 10,000 barrels (1,600 m3) of oil per day, but this figure was based on U.S. Department of Energy information from the 1970s, the accuracy and relevance of which the DoE no longer stands by. More recent studies by the Department of Energy and California Energy Commission have predicted much smaller energy benefits.[8] There is very little recent research on what the actual positive effects, if any, might be.

And, of course, I was in high school and had to deal with the Nixon-era nearly all-year DST:

In response to the 1973 energy crisis, DST in the United States began earlier in both 1974 and 1975, commencing on the first Sunday in January (January 6) in the former year and the last Sunday in February (February 23) in the latter. The extension of daylight saving time was not continued due to public opposition to late sunrise times during the winter months. In 1976, the United States reverted to the schedule set in the Uniform Time Act.

Part of the reason people hate DST in that they could never figure out when it was supposed to happen -- they kept changing it. Originally the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October:

On July 8, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1986 into law that contained a daylight saving rider authored by Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA).[3] The starting date of DST was amended to the first Sunday in April effective in 1987. DST continued to end on the last Sunday in October.

The system I started out with as a kid was simple enough -- Indiana and Arizona were oddities which stayed on Standard Time, as they straddled two time zones. Alaska and Hawaii were disconnected from the Lower 48, so weren't on my radar as a kid. Me, personally, I could live with the old rules for DST. Alas, I don't think going back is likely to be a choice. All or nothing now. And trust that software updates will handle many of our devices twice a year.

So, what else did I take advantage of on this extra-long Saturday night? Well, I stumbled onto a movie on TV I hadn't seen, amused as much as the 12-1 schedule, since it was running into the time change.

R.I.P.D. (Rest In Peace Department) [PG-13] (2013)

FXHD 12:00am EDT to 1:00am EST

A Boston cop is killed and discovers he's "not quite dead yet", as the R.I.P.D. still has a use for him. He's teamed up with a Wild West lawman, who's been around the block a few times. Sort of like the TV series Dead Again -- and like that show, you no longer appear in the same body to the living, so don't try to go back to your old life.

Of course Ryan Reynolds doesn't listen. Old codger Jeff Bridges has to show him the ropes. It's a lot like Men In Black, only this time they're dealing with deados, rather than aliens. Kevin Bacon figures in the beginning and the end, and he's smiling, which is never good.

A silly fun romp, R.I.P.D. tanked at the box office -- go figure -- but it was a pleasant enough diversion for two hours. The worst part were the interminable triple-damned commercials. (evil-grin)

Dr. Phil

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